Moreover, if the survivor is expected to need the bulk of the benefits, any estate tax disadvantage to the second option is minimized, since the surviving spouse's estate is taxed only on the benefits that remain at his or her death, If the surviving spouse understands how to properly disclaim assets and there is a chance he or she will need all or part of the retirement benefits, the best option may be for the benefits to be paid to the surviving spouse.

The "cascade" begins when a financially secure spouse chooses to disclaim either all or a portion of his or her interest as primary beneficiary to the B trust as a contingent beneficiary, then simultaneously disclaims some or all of his or her income interest in the trust to the remainder interest holder (i.

A surviving spouse can disclaim all or part of an interest in an inherited IRA and allow it to pass to younger contingent beneficiaries.

The B trust contains provisions for the surviving spouse to disclaim some or all of his or her interest from the trust directly to the children.

Disclaim a portion to the B trust, remaining as an income beneficiary;

Disclaim a portion to an adult child, who would be the deemed primary beneficiary for that portion, allowing him or her to use his or her own life expectancy for RMD purposes.

In addition, when nonspouse beneficiaries receive an interest in trust causing the trust to fail to qualify for a qualified terminable interest property (QTIP) election, such beneficiaries may disclaim their interests in such trust in order to qualify the trust for the QTIP election.

Decrease marital deduction: In certain situations, it may be appropriate for a surviving spouse to disclaim bequeathed property in order to reduce the amount of property that qualifies for the marital deduction.

If the entire estate passes to a surviving spouse subject to the marital deduction and the spouse is the estate representative, he may elect to disclaim the fee in order to effectively increase his spousal bequest.

On the other hand, it may be less desirable to disclaim executor fees when dealing with a high net worth taxable estate.

QTIP and reverse QTIP election opportunity for GSTT purposes: A surviving spouse can disclaim a general power of appointment over trust property in order to qualify the property for QTIP treatment under Sec.

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